Rava Payasam | Sooji Kheer - Easy Payasam Recipes

Rava payasam/Sooji kheer is one of the easiest rava recipes.Every friday, i have to make some payasam, sweet pongal or rava kesari for vilakku pooja neivedyam.So i keep thinking to do varieties of payasam recipes.I came to know about this payasam from Sendhil’s Chinna maami in Kumbakonam.Once she made this for lunch.I saw how she made and asked the recipe too.From that time, i started making this payasam for friday pooja whenever i run short of time.It can be made very quickly and tastes soooo good.After so many attempts, i started making on my own way with some improvemnets.The best thing of this payasam is its yield.Just 1/4 cup of rava is enough to make payasam for 4-5 persons.So u can try this for ur guests.Its an easy dessert recipe.I heard people give this sooji kheer for 6 months baby too.Its a very filling and yummy payasam recipe!!Do try this payasam.U’ll love it like me.

Rava payasam recipe

Rava payasam - Easy payasam recipe with rava

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Dessert

Serves: Serves 4

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

To roast in ghee Ghee - 1 tbsp Cashews & raisins - few Clove - 1 no Mace/Jathikai - a very small piece White rava/Sooji/Semolina - 1/3 cup To cook Milk - 2.5 cups Water - 1/2 cup Sugar - 1/2 cup Sweetened milk maid - 1 tbsp(optional) Cardamom - 2 nos

METHOD

In a pan, heat ghee and roast the cashews,raisins,clove and mace.Remove in a plate.Crush cardamom and mace together and keep everything together. In the remaining ghee,roast rava for 4-5 minutes in medium flame till u get a nice smell. Boil milk and water together in a bowl till u roast the rava.When they roll boil,reduce the flame to low and slowly add the roasted rava by stirring the water+milk mixture.(Just do as u make for rava upma) Mix everything well till there are no lumps using a whisk.Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes in low flame stirring in between.The payasam will thicken.Add milk or water to loosen it if necessary. After the rava is well cooked and becomes a porridge,add sugar.Mix well and allow it to boil for few minutes. Lastly add 1 tbsp of condensed milk,give a boil and switch off the flame. Add the aromatic spices.Serve hot or refrigerate & serve chill.Tastes great in both the ways. SOOJI KHEER/PUDDING FOR BABIES Roast 1/4 cup of rava in 2 tbsp of ghee and set aside. Take 2 tsp of roasted rava and cook in 1/4 cup of milk till done.Keep stirring and cook for 5-7 minutes in low flame.After it thickens and becomes soft,add required sugar.Mixwell till sugar melts.Cool it down and feed the babies. NOTE Condensed milk is optional.But it gives a rice taste to the payasam. Please adjust the water+milk quantity according to the consistency u need. This payasam thickens when it cools.So make it slightly watery before switching off the flame. Adjust the quantity of sugar as per ur taste.We felt it tastes great only if sugar is on higher side.

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FRYUMS CHAAT RECIPE – EASY KIDS SNACKS

 

No need to say much about fryums.I hope all of you have store bought, colourful, cylindrical shaped fryums also called as “Golden finger fryums”. I usually fry it in weekends or as a side dish for variety rice.There are many varieties of fryums and the one i used here is the long variety.In tamil we call it as “Kudal appalam”. Recently i bought this in a grocery store  to make this easy,interesting chaat.Thanks to my friend Shalini from whom i got this idea.It was very nice and Raksha loved it a lot.Only thing is it has to be served within a minute after stuffing else it will become soggy very quickly.I stuffed as much grated carrots as i can to make Raksha eat raw carrot.So adjust the quantity of these ingredients as per ur liking.Overall its a very easy snack and its a great idea to convert a junk into a healthy food.U can try the same with homemade rice vadams,sago vadams etc.I am sure everybody in ur home would love it ..

Fryums Chaat recipe

Fryums chaat recipe stuffed with carrots,onions and coriander leaves.Easy,interesting snack to attract your kids:)

 

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Snacks

Serves: Serves 4

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 5 Minutes

Total time: 10 Minutes

 

INGREDIENTS

To deep fry Fryums - 10 nos Oil - to deep fry To stuff in fryums Carrot - 1 no (large) Finely chopped big onion - 1 no Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp Lemon juice - few drops Chaat masala - 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp Salt - as needed

METHOD

Wash and grate the carrots.Chop the onions& coriander leaves finely.Mix everything in a wide bowl adding salt,chilli powder and chaat masala.Squeeze the required lemon juice. Now take the deep fried fryums and if its a long variety, slit it into two using a sharp knife as shown in the picture.If u have a small one,just stuff this vegetable mixture as it is and serve immediately. If u want to make it with vadams,stuff this mixture in between two vadams and serve as sandwich..

 

Serve ur kids and enjoy !

 

Technorati Tags: Chaat recipes,Fryums chaat recipe,Fryums recipes,Easy snacks recipes,Kids snacks recipes,snacks recipes

 

Very good recipes Tags: snacks, kids snacks, easy snacks, fryums

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EASY TOMATO THOKKU RECIPE/THAKKALI THOKKU WITHOUT ONION, GARLIC

Tomato thokku is my favourite side dish for idli,dosa. Usually my mom makes thokku with onions.My MIL makes it like tomato pickle adding roasted methi seeds powder.I’ll soon post that version here.But this recipe is very simple one without onion, garlic. Last month, my sister was telling about her sis-in-law’s tomato thokku recipe. She told it tastes very good and it can be used as tomato rice paste ,side dish for idli,dosa and chapati. It is ideal for travel too. So I wanted to try it badly. Immediately I called her SIL Mrs.Thangam and tried it.Yes,as she said it tasted great with everything. I had as an accompaniment for curd rice too. This is a very simple recipe with three major ingredients.I am very thankful to her for teaching me this yummy recipe.To make it easier,u can also grind the tomatoes and proceed as mentioned..

Easy tomato thokku

Easy tomato thokku recipe - Yummy side dish for idli,dosa and chapati.Tastes great when mixed with rice too !!

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Side dish

Serves: 1/2 cup

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 25 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

To saute Gingely oil - 3 tbsp Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp Ripe tomatoes - 5 nos(medium) Red chilli powder – 2-3 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp Salt& water - as needed

METHOD

Wash and chop tomatoes finely. In a kadai,heat 1 tbsp of gingely oil.Splutter mustard seeds.Add tomatoes and salt.Saute till all the water content evaporates. When it becomes thick,add red chilli powder,turmeric powder.Add 2 tbsp of oil again.Saute for few minutes till raw smell leaves it.Check for taste.No problem if spicy taste is more because,it gets balanced the next day. Stir now and then so that it won’t get burnt. Add little water(say 3 tbsp) and allow it to boil for few minutes.After all the moisture is absorbed,it starts to ooze out oil in the sides. After it becomes a shining thick paste,remove from the flame. The total process takes 15-20 mins in medium low flame.  Let it cool and then store in an air tight container.Use a clean spoon every time.It stays good for one month too if refrigerated. NOTE Nalla ennai/Gingely oil is mandatory for this recipe.Please do not replace it. The method i have shared here is the original recipe given by my relative.For variations,u can replace red chilli powder by sambar powder+red chilli powder combination.Also u can add a pinch of jaggery. This recipe gives u mildly spiced thokku.U can add 2 tsp more for super spicy thokku. Stays good for one month when refrigerated.Use a dry,clean spoon always.

Serve with idli,dosa,chapathi,curd rice ! Stays good for a month!

Technorati Tags: Easy tomato thokku,tomato thokku,tomato thokku recipe,easy tomato pickle,tomato pickle,thokku recipes,tomato recipes,side dish for dosa idli,side dish for curd rice

Very good recipes Tags: Tomato, spicy, vegetable, vegan, sidedish

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Tomato Soup Recipe - Indian Restaurant Style Tomato Soup (Without Cream)

This is my first post on soup recipes. Tomato soup using fresh tomatoes is the one and only soup I order whenever we go out for dinner. But no two restaurants serve tomato soup (thakkali soup) in same taste. Everybody has their own variations. Among all the soups I have tasted, I would say the best tasting soup is the one I had in Salem”Lakshmi Hotel - Salem, Tamilnadu’'. It was the bestest. My total family is a big fan of that soup and sometimes we have gone there for dinner just to taste that soup. Every time I keep sniffing/smelling the soup to find out the ingredients and I tried many times to recreate the same. At last I succeeded in my attempt. This tomato soup tastes 90% close to that soup.  I got the same color and taste. I have not used carrot, beetroot or cream . This is just the original color of fresh tomatoes. Sendhil and Raksha loved it a lot. Do try this simple,easy and yummy restaurant style recipe and let me know your feedback. Here is my small attempt in capturing the steam..How is it ? 😉 Lets see how to make this easy south indian tomato soup recipe.

Tomato soup recipe

Indian Restaurant style yummy tomato soup recipe without cream.

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Soup

Serves: Serves 3

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

To saute Butter - 1 tbsp Cinnamon - 1 inch piece Cloves - 1 no Bayleaf - 1 no Garlic cloves - 10 nos Big onion - 1 no(small size) Ripe tomatoes - 4 nos(chop finely) To mix in the soup Salt - as needed Sugar - 1/4 tsp Tomato sauce / tomato ketchup -1 tbsp Corn flour - 1 tbsp Water- 3 cups Pepper powder -  to serve

METHOD

In a pressure cooker base,melt butter. Add the cinnamon,clove and bay leaf. Saute for few seconds. Add onions,chopped garlic cloves and saute well. Finally add the chopped tomato pieces and saute till mushy. To this, add 3 cups of water, salt and pressure cook in high flame for 3-4 whistles. After the steam is released,remove the bayleaf, cinnamon and grind it with a hand blender or a juicer. Strain the sediments and discard. Add the bay leaf and cinnamon back to the strained soup. Now add sugar, tomato sauce, 1/4 tsp of white pepper powder and allow it to boil for a minute. Dilute corn flour in little water and add to the soup. Allow it to boil till raw smell emanates completely. Serve hot with bread croutons.

  NOTE

• Generally a piece of carrot or beetroot would be added to the tomatoes while cooking to give a nice color. But I din’t use any as my tomatoes itself were ripe with a nice color.
• If you add carrot or beetroot,do not grind it along with tomatoes. Please discard them after you pressure cook.
• For making bread croutons,cut the bread into slices, apply little oil. Bake in a convection oven at 180c for 20 mins. Flip it once in the middle. U’ll get a super crispy bread croutons which you can serve with this yummy soup. It tastes great !

Serve hot topped with bread pieces and pepper powder ! It tastes yummy!

Technorati Tags: Tomato soup,tomato soup recipe,Tomato soup preparation,Tomato soup recipe indian,tomato soup restaurant style,Soup recipes

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Tomato Ginger Chutney recipe - Tomato Ginger Chutney For Idli Dosa/ Thakkali inji chutney

I learnt this tomato ginger chutney recipe (thakkali inji chutney in Tami) from my lovable sister Radha. Bascially I love to try different side dish for idli, dosa everytime. Being a South Indian, most of the days, our breakfast would be either idli or dosa. So I keep thinking and searching for varieties of side dishes and that too I pay special attention to tomato chutney recipes because tomato is my most favourite vegetable. 

I love anything based on tomatoes. My dad had told many times about this tomato chutney with ginger flavor and it tempted me to try.We loved its flavour a lot. As tomato prices have crashed, I bought 2 kgs last week and I tried some yummy, interesting recipes with it. So this week, I have planned to post them one by one :) Stay tuned !

Tomato ginger chutney recipe

Tomato ginger chutney recipe -Yummy side dish for idli,dosa

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Side dishes

Serves: 3

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

To saute Ripe tomatoes - 2 nos Big onion - 1 no Red chillies – 4 or 5 nos Tamarind – Small pinch Cooking oil -  1 tbsp Salt & water - as needed To grind Ginger - 1/2 inch piece Curry leaves - 1 sprig(around 8 leaves) To temper Cooking oil - 1.5 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp Urad dal - 1/2 tsp Small onions or big onion - 10 nos/1 no (finely chopped)

HOW TO MAKE TOMATO GINGER CHUTNEY - METHOD

Wash and chop the tomatoes, onions roughly. In a kadai, heat oil and saute the onions, tomatoes, red chillies adding the required salt. Saute till tomato turns mushy. Add tamarind, mix well & let it cool. After it cools down, add the ginger and curry leaves. Grind them to a smooth, semi solid paste adding required water. Set aside. Heat oil in a kadai, temper mustard, urad dal and saute onions till transparent. You can skip onion for variations and just do the tempering.  Now add this chutney and allow it to boil well for few minutes. Remove after it becomes slightly thick. Serve with hot idli, dosa !

NOTE

• Prepare this chutney at least 30 minutes before serving so that all the flavors gets enhanced by the time you serve.
• Add more red chillies based on your taste.
• U can also add a tbsp of grated coconut for variation.

Enjoy this chutney with hot idli,dosas. It tastes yum!!

Technorati Tags: Tomato chutney,Tomato chutney recipe,Thakkali chutney,Side dishes,Side dish for dosa idli,side dish recipes,Chutney varieties

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Vegetarian Nasi Goreng Recipe / Indonesian Fried Rice Recipe

Nasi goreng or Indonesian fried rice recipe is a popular rice dish in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.It was in my try list for long time.I took this recipe from a magazine.I had already tried chinese style”Chilli garlic fried rice”which is a hit recipe in my blog.So i confidently tried this recipe too.This is a very simplified recipe and may not be the authentic one.I compared this recipe with some of the vegetarian nasi goreng recipes on net,modified it and prepared for sunday lunch along with tomato soup.We had a nice international lunch menu  at home. I used shallow fried tofu and spring onions as per the magazine recipe.For variations and make it more healthy,u can also add thinly sliced vegetables.Do try this recipe with ur variations this weekend.Have a happy meal.
It is often served with various sides like fresh vegetables such as lettuce, sliced cucumber, and sliced tomatoes. But i served it with plain tomato sauce.It tasted simply yummy !

Nasi goreng recipe

Vegetarian Nasi goreng / Indonesian Fried rice recipe

Cuisine: International

Category: Lunch

Serves: Serves2-3

Prep time: 20 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 35 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

To pressure cook Basmati rice - 1/2 cup Water-3/4cup To grind Red chillies - 8 nos (I used kashmiri red chilli to get a nice color) Garlic cloves – 6 nos Small onions/Shallots - 3 nos To Shallow fry Tofu - 50 gms(cut into small cubes) To saute Gingely oil - 3 tbsp Small onions/Big onion - 10 nos/1 no(finely chopped)  Garlic cloves - 5 nos Soya sauce – 1/2 tsp Black pepper powder – 1/2 tsp Salt- as needed Spring onions – 2 tbsp (to garnish)

METHOD

Wash and soak the basmati rice for 30 minutes.Pressure cook it adding 3/4 cup of water and a drop of oil.Remove and spread in a plate.Rice should cool completely and should be fluffy. Grind all the ingredients to make a smooth paste. Chop the onions and garlic cloves finely.Cube cut tofu into small pieces and shallow fry in 2 tbsp of oil. Remove in a tissue and set aside. In a kadai,heat gingely oil and saute the onions,garlic cloves and the ground paste.Saute till the raw smell leaves completely. Now add the cooked rice,soya sauce and mix well.Finally add the shallow fried tofu pieces and toss well.Garnish with spring onions and serve hot ! NOTE U can use the combination of brown rice and regular rice to get the reddish brown colored rice. U can replace tofu by mixed vegetables.The original recipe called for deep frying tofu.But i shallow fried it.As i had cut the tofu into big pieces,i felt the masalas din’t infuse well inside tofu.So i feel , making small pieces would help.

Technorati Tags: Nasi goreng,Nasi goreng recipe,Nasi goreng vegetarian recipe,Indonesian fried rice,Lunch recipes,Variety rice recipe

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NEER URUNDAI/UPPU URUNDAI-STEAMED RICE BALLS

Neer urundai aka uppu urundai is my Mil’s traditional breakfast/dinner recipes. Its a Thanjavur special recipe. We usually prepare this neer urundai whenever Sendhil needs easy to digest dinner recipes. U can easily prepare neer urundai by reserving some rice batter while you make idli,dosa batter. You can either make sweet neer urundai or savory ones by adding pepper and cumin seeds powder like the one I did here. I have used idli rice / boiled rice in this recipe. You can also use ration rice. It comes out well. 

In this recipe, we cook rice balls in water and we drink that water / kanji adding jaggery or salt. My mil says this kanji/porridge is very good for stomach. Its procedure is very similar to ammini kozhukattai but no need to roll it very small. Over to the recipe,

Neer urundai/Steamed rice balls

Neer urundai - Our traditional dinner recipe. Tastes yummy and easy to digest too.

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Dinner recipes

Serves: 4

Prep time: 2 hrs

Cook time: 40 min

Total time: 30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

To soak and grind Boiled rice/Idli rice –1.5 cups Salt - as needed To add in the batter Grated coconut - 1/2 cup To make kanji Grated jaggery or salt - as needed to taste FOR PEPPER BALLS Pepper corns- 1.5 tsp Jeera/Cumin – 1 tsp

HOW TO MAKE NEER URUNDAI - METHOD

Wash and soak the rice for 2 hours. Grind it to a smooth,thick batter. Do not add more water while grinding. After removing the batter , add grated coconut and mix well. Make balls of small gooseberry size. Spread them in the newspaper or cotton cloth / veshti for 10 minutes. Excess water gets absorbed by the paper. Now boil 3-4 cups of water. When the water comes to roll boil, add the balls altogether. Balls will get separated after they cook. Let it cook for 5-8 minutes. Do not cover the pan. To test whether the balls are cooked, take one ball with a slotted ladle and drop it in a plate. It will not stick to the plate instead it bounces. If the balls are not cooked, it will sit in the plate instead of bouncing. Remove all the balls and set aside. Coarsely powder the pepper and jeera. For tempering, heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a pan and add the powdered pepper, jeera seeds. Saute for a minute.  Add the balls to the pan. Mix well till all the balls are coated. Remove and serve hot immediately. To make kanji – Add either jaggery or salt to the water in which the balls were cooked. It would be slightly thicker and white in color. Add the required jaggery and boil for sometime. Add cardamom powder for sweet kanji. For salt kanji, add salt and buttermilk if needed. Drink immediately. NOTE If you feel, you have used excess water for grinding, cook the batter in a hot kadai and mix till all the excess water is absorbed and it turns like a thick dough OR roll the batter in a thick cotton towel, it will absorb excess water. Cooking the batter in a kadai helps to absorb water quickly and balls will also be much softer. This step is completely optional. We use it only for troubleshooting.

Technorati Tags: Neer urundai,Uppu urundai,rice balls,steamed rice balls,prepare neer urundai,neer urundai recipe

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